Microsoft today released version 1.5 of the Kinect for Windows runtime and SDK, and made Kinect for Windows hardware available in four more countries.

The updated release adds several capabilities intended to help developers use the Kinect sensor in new and intriguing ways. That includes Kinect Studio, which will let developers record, playback, and debug clips of users engaging with their apps. There's also improved tracking - from facial features to seated skeletal tracking.

The Face Tracking SDK "provides a real-time 3D mesh of facial featurestracking the head position, location of eyebrows, shape of the mouth, etc.," Microsoft said in a blog post.

Seated Skeletal Tracking, meanwhile, "tracks a 10-joint head/shoulders/arms skeleton, ignoring the leg and hip joints." It's not restricted to seating positions, which Microsoft said will allow developers to create seating-optimized apps (in offices, for example) or standing apps that only focus on the upper body (like kiosks).

"Skeletal Tracking is supported in Near Mode, including both Default and Seated tracking modes," Microsoft said. "This allows businesses and developers to create applications that track skeletal movement at closer proximity, like when the end user is sitting at a desk or needs to stand close to an interactive display."

The update also brings new language support for speech recognition: French, Spanish, Italian, and Japanese. There are also new language packs that help distinguish the way a language is spoken in different regions.

Meanwhile, Kinect for Windows hardware, which will set you back $249, is now available in Hong Kong, South Korea, Singapore, and Taiwan. Next month, it will also come to Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Denmark, Finland, India, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Arab Emirates.

"As we have worked with customers large and small over the past months, we've seen the value in having a fully integrated approach: the Kinect software and hardware are designed together; audio, video, and depth are all fully supported and integrated; our sensor, drivers, and software work together to provide world class echo cancellation; our approach to human tracking, which is designed in conjunction with the Kinect sensor, works across a broad range of people of all shapes, sizes, clothes, and hairstyles, etc," Microsoft said. "And because we design the hardware and software together, we are able to make changes that open up exciting new areas for innovation, like Near Mode."

The Kinect for Windows 1.0 SDK made its debut in early February in 12 countries. The offering is intended to take the Kinect sensor technology beyond entertainment and use it for things like healthcare. Microsoft first tipped the 1.5 SDK in April, promising a release by the end of May.

Chloe Albanesius has been with PCMag.com since April 2007, most recently as Executive Editor for News and Features. Prior to that, she worked for a year covering financial IT on Wall Street for Incisive Media. From 2002 to 2005, Chloe covered technology policy for The National Journal's Technology Daily in Washington, DC. She has held internships at NBC's Meet the Press, washingtonpost.com, the Tate Gallery press office in London, Roll Call, and Congressional Quarterly. She graduated with a bachelor's degree in journalism from American University...
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